Only a few episodes later, Portman is handed a different, if similar, challenge. The outspoken women’s rights activist is given the role of Mrs. Kraft, a NASA scientist who looks and acts like a ’60s housewife. The fact that she’s not given a first name is as intentional as her assumption that Angie works for Detective Tanner (DJ Cole) simply because he’s a man. Her constant smile, perfect makeup, and bursting baby belly all lend Mrs. Kraft an air of domesticity and her period appropriate surroundings further enforce the patriarchal era of NASA’s heyday.

Knowing how she really feels, one can only imagine Portman would be eager to satirize the sexist trappings of our past by emphasizing their modern parallels. But her line delivery is in keeping with Mrs. Kraft’s reality, not the social commentary her character offers to the audience. When Mrs. Kraft refuses to give a freshly baked cookie to Angie, offering her “a Fresca and a diet pill” instead, Portman whispers the line as if Mrs. Kraft would be embarrassed for Angie that she even thought to take a delicious treat meant for the hard-working men around her.

Now, Portman — an Oscar winner and three-time nominee — is obviously a pro, so complimenting her on understanding the basic concepts of acting may seem reductive. But the distinction she makes here isn’t that she’s playing a character rather than herself; it’s that her character isn’t in on the joke, unlike so many other satiric roles that require their performers to play up the meta connections made by the audience. Portman grasps the tone quickly and then runs away with the scene, her soft inflections and glowing expressions creating a beam of light gliding through the scene. Again, there’s so much more to the scene than celebrity worship, and that’s a credit to the writing as much as the performers.

I’m directing – my next project is called On the Basis of Sex. It’s the true story of the early years of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and it focuses on Ruth in 1970 taking, and winning against all odds, the first two cases that declared discrimination on the basis of sex unconstitutional. It’s not a big budget movie, it stars Natalie Portman and it’s a very exciting project to be a part of.

Who's one guest star you were most excited to work with in Season 3 of Angie Tribeca?

Natalie (Portman) had never done TV before, and we've been friends for a long time. She was adorably nervous about it, which was so funny from an Oscar winner. (Her character) is a bit of a play on an anti-feminist, old-school idea of a woman. She's in a power position, but she's still treated terribly by the men around her in a '60s, Mad Men-way. It's one of those characters where you're like, "Wow, we have come a long way."

The May 15 dinner pre-Cannes hosted by Natalie Portman, face of Miss Dior, at Christian Dior's Chateau de La Colle Noire castle in Grasse. The countryside gem — now a Dior property after the house purchased and renovated it over several years — was officially unveiled ahead of the 2016 festival at a chic dinner attended by longtime Dior muse Charlize Theron and Dior Makeup face Bella Hadid.

KS: Natalie Portman reads Jorie Graham and she studied under Graham at Harvard. She chose, I knew, what to me would be a difficult piece, because it was a minute and a half. To read 20 seconds of The Age Of Innocence, someone like Helen Mirren could just look at it and have it memorised. It's a talent they have. A minute and a half piece is long.

Natalie Portman was shooting. We did it in Paris where she was filming a perfume commercial. She's a representative of a large perfume manufacturer and they had a lunch break. And she was in makeup and she just came out and did this piece. It was only a couple of days after the Paris bombings.

AKT: You mean the Bataclan attack?

KS: The first one, two years ago.

AKT: Charlie Hebdo?

KS: Yes. And she brought her young son to work because she didn't want to leave him. And he kind of cuddled up next to me, we looked at the monitor together, checking Mom [Portman] out. And it was all very sweet.

Venice line up will be announced next Thursday. Maybe the film by Dolan is the one that has more possibilities to appear in the fall festivals (at this point I think Paramount is going to leave the Garland film for 2018 after all).

Yeah, it's really strange everything related to the RBG movie. I don't think it's a change of director (the news about Felicity Jones taking on the lead role says that Mimi Leder is still the director and filming starts next month), so I don't know what to think about it. It's probably a personal decision, maybe spend more time with her baby and family. It looks like Bronco Belle is not going to filming until next year, so I refuse to believe that's the reason.